Worms
by mutedowl
Summary: kid!Naruto decides to show kid!Hinata his worm collection. But their bond is quickly interrupted by kid!Neji.
1. Worms

"W-Worms?" She said, peering closely at the creature on his palm. "Yeah, they're these wriggly things you see in the dirt." Her big opaque eyes blinked and squinted towards the ground beneath them. She didn't look very impressed, which Naruto was surprised at.

Who wouldn't think a collection of worms was beyond cool?

"Anyway, there's no need to be afraid of them. They just squirm." He explained, grabbing yet another worm and taking it for his collection.

She didn't say much afterwards, she shifted her attention back to her doll. It was dirty and barely stitched together but Naruto could tell by the smile on the small girl's face that it meant a lot to her. "Whats with that doll, anyway?" He asked. It was strange for him to try to start a conversation with someone. Everyone judged him - he could tell. But with this girl, he felt none of that tension he'd grown so used too. He felt welcomed, almost equal to her.

"Her name i-is Momo. She's my best friend." She replied, not taking her eyes off the hair she brushed on the doll. Naruto stared at her, at first he'd mistaken the meek girl for a boy due to her boyish haircut but her big innocent eyes told him otherwise. "Momo?" He repeated, taking the doll out of her hands abruptly. The girl squealed quietly. "Be c-careful..." She protested anxiously.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the doll, trying to figure out what it was that made the girl so interested in her. By the looks of it...nothing. The doll's hair was brown and knotted in some areas, and it had stains on her dress. Naruto did notice however that the doll and the girl shared the same eyes. Big, white eyes.

"And yours?" He said, handing it back to her. "M-My...?"

"Name."

"Hyuuga H-Hinata." She squeaked, happy to have the doll back in her arms. She set it between her legs. "What's your name?" She asked with a slight blush. Naruto found it an odd time to be blushing, but he didn't pay too much mind to it. "My name's Uzumaki Naruto! I'm going to be Hokage one day!"

She stared at him for a few seconds before giggling. "Is that your dream?" Naruto didn't hesitate to nod, sure of himself. "I hope...you accomplish it." She said with a genuine smile.

Naruto didn't expect that. He wasn't used to encouragement. He was ready for some belittlement; just like he'd always received after sharing his dream. "T-Thanks..." He said, scratching the back of his head before finding it safe to beam a smile.

He heard a quick trail of steps come his way, he looked behind him. A boy with long brown hair came his way. He too shared the big pupil-less eyes of Hinata, but instead they looked dangerous on him. Almost sinister, like weapons. "Hinata." He hissed before glancing at Naruto with a menacing glare. Naruto narrowed his eyes at him. The boy grabbed Hinata's wrist without much grace and made Hinata flinch. "N-Neji..." She whined.

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto hollered, angered by his actions. "Don't worry about it." He replied. Naruto gritted his teeth. The boy grabbed Hinata and pulled her up from the ground, making her drop her doll. "Leave him alone." She protested with a quiet anger. "H-He's...my friend." She explained as the boy dragged her away from Naruto.

Naruto felt his heart drop. Not only had he gained a friend, but she was being dragged away from him right before his eyes. He quickly picked up Momo from the ground.

"Your father wouldn't approve of that." The boy simply replied. The girl flashed him an apologetic look before leaving the playground entirely. Naruto dropped his gaze to the doll in his hands. He had never felt so alone before.

* * *

 **Authors Note: Wow! Hey Everyone long time no see, hope everything is well. Sorry for lack of stories, life has been busy hahah. I wrote this story years ago for a prompt that I got from a livejournal community. I would consider continuing if that is something you guys would be interested in? Let me know. Hope you enjoy.**


	2. A Rough Day

He spent most of the day shadowing Iruka.

Iruka spent his days at the school building, grading papers and correcting homework. He'd been walking up and down making copies, doing worksheets and wondering why there was so much paperwork involved when you're only trying to become a professional assassin.

He didn't notice Naruto at first. He only noticed blonde spikes in the corner of his eye occasionally, popping up without notice. He also took notice of the loud and abrupt steps whenever Iruka walked from one end of the school to the other. He finally decided to turn around, only to find Naruto glaring at him. He held in his laugh.

"Naruto, wow! What brings you to school...in the morning...on a Saturday?" Iruka said it with genuine curiosity, mentally backtracking to think if he had done anything prior to upset Naruto.

Naruto took a seat on top of his desk, he pursed his lips. "I'm bored." was all that came out.

'I'm bored.' was a phrase Naruto used a lot. He used it as a substitute for 'I'm upset' or 'I'm sad' or 'I'm frustrated'. Iruka knew this but he wouldn't let the little guy know. Iruka assumed Naruto would be upset he was aware he had feelings.

"Hi Bored, I'm Iruka!" He beamed a smile at Naruto. Someone has to tell the dad-jokes around here.

Naruto punched his arm in response. "Ow!" Iruka exclaimed, trying to ignore how much it hurt to be punched by this small child. He let out a chuckle, still studying the young boy. Naruto puffed his cheeks looking at Iruka then back into a daze. "Tell you what, once I finish this stack of papers we can go get some ramen like always. Sound good?"

Gradually Naruto's lips formed into that familiar grin.

* * *

The ramen went down easy in Naruto's throat. Even if the evening was hot enough already, the warm ramen sat comfortably in his stomach. Iruka-sensei didn't say much, but he did manage to stare at Naruto more than he was used too.

"What?" Naruto huffed quietly, looking at Iruka then back to his soup.

"Is something bothering you Naruto?" He was also looking down at his soup now, raising an eyebrow.

"No." Naruto was quick to answer. He wasn't sure if he was bothered at all to be honest. He hadn't felt like himself since yesterday. Iruka nodded, stirring his soup. "Well that's good to hear. You should know I am always here to listen."

He looked to Naruto, he was inhaling his soup as always, there was barely any left. He smiled to himself. He couldn't help but notice a small doll in his back pocket. The brown hair was tangled and hanging from his saggy orange sweats. "What is that?" Iruka asked, still chewing on his noodles. "Momo." He responded between his chews.

"Momo?"

"It's Hinata's." Naruto shrugged. "Some girl from the playground I talked to yesterday." He burped.

Hinata? That was the heiress of the Hyuga clan. How did Naruto know her? Iruka knew they were around the same age, they are actually expected to be in the same class once the Ninja Academy starts but they are still too young right now. However, the Hyuga clan are prestigious people, they won't be happy to find out if their heir is talking to someone like Naruto - even if he is a good kid.

"I showed her my worm collection." Naruto grinned, suddenly full of pride.

Iruka grinned along with him. "Girls don't like that, you know."

There was a long pause that made Iruka glance at Naruto curiously. He sat facing the people walking outside of the small ramen shop, keeping his eyes on the something specific that Iruka couldn't see. He didn't think much of it until Naruto suddenly dashed away, thanking Iruka and then stumbling as he struggled to find his way into the mob of walking people.

Iruka sighed and ordered another bowl.

* * *

Between the towering adults Naruto caught a small glimpse of lavender hair.

"Hey!"

"Watch where you're going!"

"Excuse me?!"

These were phrases that were thrown inside one of Naruto's ears and out the other as he elbowed and shoved throughout the busy crowd. He shuffled and stumbled in between the bodies until he finally reached the other side.

He lost the lavender. Scratching the back of his spiky hair, he looked around. Merchants, fishermen and fellow ninja's crowded the streets of Konoha. Green leaves fell placidly as usual. _Where could she have gone? She was just here..._

Naruto clicked his tongue, he squinted his eyes as if it would dramatically help, but no sign of her. Suddenly, he turned to his left only to feel a terrible pain emerge from his forehead.

"Uff!"

"E-ehh?!"

The blonde rubbed his forehead, tilting his head up to face his attacker. They stood in front of each other awkwardly, he felt an elbow rub his own. He clenched his fist, ready for a fight. Squinting his eyes open, he only found a small girl glancing at him. His fist relaxed. Her gaze was both embarrassed and angry, which Naruto found humorous because it's an expression that is hard to explain. Especially when this person doesn't have pupils.

"Hinata?" Naruto laughed, wondering why he was suddenly so full of glee when he was sure he was on a verge of a concussion.

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata let out a timid breath and giggled quietly, "What a-are you doing here?"

She spoke so quietly sometimes Naruto felt the need to lower his volume dramatically too. He never chose his words before he spoke, rather his words just strolled out by themselves and loudly. Like burps. He spoke like burps. He noticed that now.

"Eh...you know! Just hanging around here. I just ate a bowl of ramen." He told her how good it was and how nice Iruka-sensei was for buying it for him. She nodded and smiled with her eyes as he spoke. She listened to every syllable, every word and every pause which Naruto found really kind. Really considerate. Something he wasn't used too.

"W-Wow, Ramen! I usually never have ramen. My father is very strict with what I eat...it sounds delicious Naruto-kun...I-I'm so happy you enjoyed y-yourself." Hinata would look at Naruto and suddenly become flustered. Her words came out easier when she didn't look him in the eye. Which is weird, but Naruto didn't mind.

Naruto chuckled lightly, "Y-Yeah...Hey actually I have something of yours!" He exclaimed, suddenly reaching into his back pocket. It was empty. "Momo..." He muttered.

"Momo?!" Hinata's voice suddenly became really high pitched, that was the first time he'd every heard her speak so clearly. Naruto suddenly felt a wave of guilt and worry wash over him, "Yeah, um...I had her until..." He turned his head to look behind him. Momo was laying down on the ground amidst the crowd of people. They were stepping on her.

He laughed nervously, "Just a second, I know where she is!" He held up a finger, while Hinata held her hands together on her chest. She had such an anticipating look in her eyes.

He shoved his way back into the crowd, grabbing Momo by her leg. He brushed her off a bit, now a little embarassed he hadn't taken care of her better. She looked like she had a rough day. Stuffing the doll back into his pocket, he turned around and once again, he felt a terrible pain emerge but this time it was in his gut.

"Who do you think you are?!" A frantic unfamiliar voice echoed in the back of Naruto's mind. He was so shocked by the sudden pain he couldn't process the situation immediately. He stumbled back until he plopped down on the ground. He felt someone grab his collar. He opened his eyes to find a blank eyes staring back at him. They weren't Hinata's blank eyes. "Back off, idiot!" Naruto threw a fist, making contact with his nose.

"Neji!" Hinata huffed, grabbing his shirt. "Are you crazy?!" Her voice started out strong but became more and more quiet the more people started to stare. She furrowed her brows, shaking the long haired boy, he was only staring intently at Naruto. There was a drip of blood from one of his nostrils.

Neji pushed Hinata, making her trip backwards, "You're the crazy one! Talking to the village idiot when were from one of the strongest families in this village." Naruto ran towards Neji, his anger pulsing throughout his body. He was seeing red.

He shoved him down to the ground, taking a seat on his chest. He had his knees digging into Neji's arms. "You think it's okay to push girls around?" Naruto threw in a few punches until Neji's eye started to turn a shade of lavender, the same as Hinata's hair. _What an inappropriate time to think about her_ , Naruto thought to himself even with all his anger making him shake.

Naruto didn't look but he could sense there was a circle of people around, whispering.

There always was.

"What's going on here?" A deeper, somehow more dangerous voice called out.

Naruto felt a hand grab the back of his shirt, then pulling him harsh enough to make him hit the ground hard. Naruto was sure his jutsu was gravity.

There was silence.

Naruto rolled onto his back to face this grave voice. Before he was able to look up, someone ran and stood in front of Naruto, as if to protect him. All Naruto could see was Iruka's familiar hand, he was holding it behind his back with a small but sharp kunai hidden and hooked unto one of his fingers.

Iruka laughed nervously, "Hiashi Hyuga, what a surprise!"


End file.
